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As Director of Infection Prevention at Memorial Regional Health, Olivia Scheele keeps a close watch on patient infection rates as well as prevention protocols.

She’s happy to report that MRH has not had a surgical-site infection attributed to the hospital since 2020.

The National Health and Safety Network (NHSN) requires hospitals to report on any post-operative infections that arise in patients who undergo surgeries on the breast or colon, total hip or knee replacement, or abdominal hysterectomies. In addition, hospital-acquired infections such as C. difficile and MRSA must also be monitored.

The NHSN then provides this information to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which posts the data online for consumer review.

“MRH follows a wide variety of policies and procedures to prevent infection of any kind spreading to staff, patients and visitors, regardless if it has to be reported or not,” said Scheele. “Source control such as mask wearing, simple handwashing, understanding the chain of infection and how to intervene, and cleaning and sterile processing are just a few examples of internal processes. Our infection prevention standards come from the Centers for Disease Control, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses, and other renowned organizations with evidence-based practice information.”

Internal data metrics are used to guide clinical decision-making as well as adding or changing policy, said Scheele. “We want to make sure we are doing the right things at the right time for the right reasons. A protocol may work well in one geographical area but not others.”

Scheele also pointed out that a lot more goes into preventing infection than just keeping things clean. “A patient’s current state of health plays a big role. For example, diabetes is a huge risk factor for infection because when blood sugars are not stable, it weakens the immune system. It really is a team approach to infection prevention that includes both the hospital team and the patient working together.”

MRH ensures that all staff members—not only clinical staff—are well educated about infection control. “Everyone receives training as well as regular, ongoing information because everyone who works here has an extremely important role in preventing the spread of infection,” Scheele said. “Infection prevention is everyone’s responsibility, from checking on a patient to the operating rooms being cleaned by our environmental services team. All departments are doing amazing work to provide excellent care to our community.”

Scheele emphasizes that MRH’s zero-infection rate is proof that MRH is a premier choice for surgeries of any nature. “Our MRH family caring for your family is our number one priority.”